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SKETCH 

OF THE 

LIFR OF SAMUEL DEXTER, LL. D. 

BY THE 

HON. JOSEPH STORY, LL. D. 

JUDGE OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES, 

PKESITJIXO .rtIDG2 OF THi: CIHC. COUnT OF THE V. S. FOR THB FXRST CIRCUIT, 
AS DItlVEnED TO THE 

GRAND JURORS OF THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS, 

'I 

^'.. xyj) TO THE 

I 

I MEMBERS OP THE SUFFOLK BAR 

I 

|i AT THK OPENING OP THE COURT IN BOSTON, MAY 15, 1816, 

PUBLISHKD AT THEIIl JOINT BEa^TEST. 

I • 

I " Pertecti oratoris moderatione et sapientia, non solum ipsius dignitatem, sed et 
I privatorum plurimorum, et universse reipublicse salutem maxime cODtineri." 

" Domus jui isconsulti totius craculura civitatis ; maxima quotidie frequentia civium, 

suramorum hoiciaum splendore celebratur." 
'• Cn nostra civitate, arapUssiraus quisque et clarissimus vir ." 

Crc. BE Or. 



BOSTON : 
PHI?fTEI) BY JOHN BtlOT. 

1816. 



i^EQUEST OF JURY AND BAR. 



Sir, 

THE graad jtsrors for tli'.> Circuit Court of the United S(atcs, no\^' sitting 
at Boston, — 

Voted, Unanimoushj, — ^That a Committee be chosen to wait on the Hon. 
Judge Stoiit, to express their high sense of approbation for the excellent 
charge given them this day, especially tliat part which brought into view the 
melancholy event of the death of the late Hon. and much respected Samuel 
Dextf.w, Esq. and to request a copy for the press. 



ISAAC TVARREN, 



NATHANIEL H ALL, ^ ^«'""'''^^'^' 



BosTO^r, May 15, 1816. 

Hon. JosEPU Story, Esq. 



AT a mecthig of the Bar of Suffolk, May 15, 1816,— 
Voted, — That the District Attorney of the United States, the Solicitor Geu- 
eral, and Alexander Towur lud Esq. be a Comn.ittee to request of tlie Hon. Judge 
Story a copy of Jiis cliai-ge to the Grand Juiy for the press. 
Attest, 

OCTAVIUS PICKERING, Secrelaii/. 



Boston, May 15, 1816. 

SlK, 

The ujidersigned, being a Committee of the Suffolk Bar, have been 
instructed by an unanimous Vote of tlie members present on the occasion, to ex- 
press to you an assurance of the great satisfaction they have derived from the ad- 
dress of your Honor to the Grand Jury at the opening of the Circuit Court this 
morning, especially that part of it containing the interesting sketch of the life and 
death and character of their much lamented and most distinguished friend and 
brotlier, the late Mr. Dexter ; and to request you would favour them with a copy 
of the whole production for the press. 

We have the honor to be, with gi-eat esteem and respect. 
Your most obedient servants, 

GEORGE BLAKE, 
DANIEL DAVIS, 
ALEXANDER TOWNSEND. 
Hon. Joseph Stor\, 
J'irmihtj Judge of the C'lradt Cqvrt, 



Boatov, IG May^ I8O0. 

I REC£iVK witli great sensibility the cxjirtssious of approbation 
which the grand juiy and the bar have been pleased to express ; and 1 submit to 
their disposal that part of the charge which respects the life and character of the 
Hon. Mr. Dexter. 

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, 

JOSEPH STORY 
Messrs. Watirkn and Hall, 
A Committee of the Grand Jzin/. 

GKonoE Blakf, Daniel Davis, and 
Aletander TowjfSFKD, Esquires, 
Jl Committee of the Bar. 

From the Boston Gazette of j\Taij IG. 

UxiTEii States CincuiT Couht, Massachusetts District. 

YESTERDAY the session commenced. The court was held in the room of 
the Supreme Court of the State, to accommodate the concoui*se of people, brought 
together by sympathy for the death of Mr. Dexter, in numbers, that the U. S. 
Court room could not contain. At eleven o'clock the procession, preceded by the 
Marshal of the District and his Deputies, moved from the Old Court House, con- 
fflsting of the Hon. the Judges, the Rev. Chaplain (Mr. Lowell,) the U. S. Attor- 
ney for the District, the Officers of the Court, the Hon. the Council, and Senate 
of tlie Commonwealth, witli tlie Sheriff of Suffolk, Members of the Bar of this 
and tlie neiglibouring counties, citizens and strangers. It passed through Court 
Street, Cornhill, and School Street, to the NeAv Court House. When it reached 
the State court room, this Avas already neai-ly filled. After the forms, usual on 
the opening of a Court, the throne of grace was addressed by the Rev. Mr. Low- 
BLL, in a prayer of extreme fervor, in which the divine mercy was most devoutly 
and pathetically supplicated to sanctify to this community and the countiy the se- 
Tere loss both had sustained in the sudden death of " the honorable many and the 
Cminsellory and the eloquent orator."^ The Hon. Judge StORX then charged the 
Grand Jury of the Distinct, and closed with an affecting notice of this afflictive 
event, in wliich, embaiTassed by tears, for " on this occasion it was manly to 
weep," he gave a very comprehensive account of the character of the illustrious 
deceased, and a biogiaphical outline of his life. The merits of this highly distin- 
guished performance we attempt not to sketch, as it is understood, at tlie joint so- 
licitation of the Gi-and Jurors and the Bar, that a copy will be given for the press. 

Boston, May 9th, 1816. 
I'HE Members of the Bar of Suffolk, are requested to wear crape on tlie 
l«ft arm thirty days, as a mark of respect to the memory of the Hon. Samcbl 
DsxTER. DANIEL DAVIS, President. 

OcTATivs PieKERJtxcf, Secretary. 



SKETCH. 



I HAVE now finished the brief review of those 
6ffences which are most important in the criminal cod© 
of the United States. And happy should I be, if I 
could congratulate you on the peace and general pros- 
perity of our country without mingling emotions of a 
painful nature. But how is it possible to enter this 
hall of justice and cast my eyes among my brethren 
at the bar, without missing one, who for many years 
has been its distinguished ornament. 

On ordinary occasions of the loss of private or 
professional friends we may properly bury or.r sorrows 
in our own bosoms. In such cases the public do not 
feel that deep sympathy, which authorises us to speak 
aloud oar anguish and disquietude. But when such 
men, as Mr. Dexter die, the loss is emphatically a 
public loss, and the mourners are the whole nation. 
To give utterance to our feelings is therefore a solemn 
duty. It is fit that the example of the great and good 
should be broudit forward for the imitation of the 
young and ambitious ; that gratitude for eminent 'ser- 
vices should find a voice as public as the deeds ; 
and that exalted genius, when it has ceased to attract 



6 

admiration by living splendour, should be consecrat- 
ed in the memories of those, whom it has instructed 
or preserved. 

I feel assured therefore that I am not stepping 
aside from the path of duty, or pressing unduly upon 
your attention, by devoting a few minutes of your 
time to a sketch of the history and character of this 
illustrious laAvyer and statesman. 

Mr. Dexter was descended from a highly respect- 
able parentage. His grandfather was a clergyman. 
His fiithcr, the Hon. Samuel Dexter, was a merchant, 
and resided many years at Boston, where his son 
Samuel was born in tlie year I76I. The father early 
distinguished himself in the struggles between the 
crown and the people of Massachusetts previous to 
the revolution ; and for his public services was seve- 
ral times elected to the Council, by the House of 
Representatives, and as often rejected by the royal 
governor of the province. He was at length admitted 
to a seat in the Council by the prudence or the fears 
of the executive ; but in 1774 was again negatived 
*^by the express commands of his majesty.'^ To- 
wards the close of his life he retired altogether from 
public aftairs, and engaged in a profound investigation 
of the great doctrines of theology. At his death he 
bequeathed a handsome legacy to Harvard University 
for the encouragement of biblical criticism ; and upon 
ibis honorable foundation the Dexter lectureship has 
since been established, 

Mr. Dexter, the son, after the usual preparatory 
studies, was matriculated at Harvard University in 
1777, and received his first degree of bachelor of arts 
in 1781, During his residence at the University h^ 



gave ample promise of those talents, which shed so 
much lustre on his riper years. At a public exhibi- 
tion he delivered a poem, which was at that time re- 
ceived with great applause, and is still considered as 
highly creditable to his taste and judgment. On re- 
ceiving his degree he was selected for the first literary 
honors in his class, which he sustained with increas- 
ing reputation. 

He now determined to engage in the profession of 
the law, a science, whose acute distinctions and logic- 
al structure were wonderfully adapted to invigorate 
and develope the powers of his understanding. He 
passed the usual preparatory term at Worcestei*, un- 
der the tuition of the Hon. Levi Lincoln, then an emi- 
nent counsellor at the bar, and since Lieut. Governour 
of the Commonwealth. During this period, and for 
several years after his admission to the bar, Mr. Dex- 
ter devoted himself with unceasing assiduity to ac- 
quire the elements of law ; and, as may be easily sup- 
posed from his great abilities, he was completely suc- 
cessful in his purposes. Notwithstanding many dis- 
couragements of a public nature which at that time 
pressed heavily on young lawyers, Mr. Dexter rose 
rapidly into professional notice, and soon found liiin- 
self surrounded with clients and business. In a 
short time he was chosen to the State Legislature ; 
and his sound judgment and comprehensive policy 
gave him great weight and influence in all the delib- 
erations of that body. From the State Legislature 
lie was transferred to the Congress of the United 
States, being first elected to the House of Represen- 
tatives, and afterwards to the Senate, by the suffrages 
of his native state. Perhaps there has been no period 



8 

since the establishment of the government, which more 
imperiously demanded all the foresight, virtue, and 
discretion of the ablest statesmen, than that in which 
Mr. Dexter was called to assist in the national coun- 
cils. The first talents in the respective parties, which 
then divided the country, were drawn into Congress, 
The floors of the two houses became a vast amphi- 
theatre, on which the struggles for political power and 
principle were maintained with all the eloquence of 
rhetoric, and strength of reasoning, which the zeal of 
party could enkindle in noble minds. The most deep 
and impassioned feelings took possession of the nation 
itself ; and the same thrilling sensations, which agita- 
ted Congress, electrified the whole continent. It 
seemed, as if every power of the human mind was 
summoned to its proper business, and stretched to the 
most intense exertion. Many of you can recal the 
emotions of those days ; and to those of us, who were 
then reposing in academic shades, the light, that burst 
from the walls of Congress, seemed reflected back 
from every cottage in the country. At no period of 
his life did Mr. Dexter more completely sustain his 
reputation for extraordinary talents. His clear and 
forcible argumentation, his earnest and affecting ad- 
monitions, and his intrepid and original developement 
of principles and measures, gave him a weight of au- 
thority, which it was difficult to resist. Perhaps no 
man was ever heard by his political opponents with 
more profound and unaffected respect. 

Mr. Dexter resigned his seat in the senate on his 
appointment as Secretary of War under the adminis- 
tration of President Adams. He next received the 
office of Secretary of the Treasury 5 and during a 



short period of vacancy discliarged also the functions 
of the department of State. These were to Mr. Dex- 
ter new and untrodden paths. The habits of his life, 
and the pursuits of his mind were ill suited to that 
minute diligence and those intricate details, which the 
business of war and finance unavoidably impose upon 
the iucumbents of office. He felt a great reluctance 
to engage in such employments, for which he profess- 
ed no peculiar relish, and in which his forensic disci- 
pline and senatorial experience might not always 
guide him to correct results. His acceptance of these 
high stations was not therefore without much hesita- 
tion ; but having accepted, he immediately employed 
the whole vigour of his mind to attain the mastery of 
all their multifarious duties. That he fully accom- 
plished his purposes can be no surprise to those, who 
knew him. Such was his intellectual capacity and 
discrimination that, what he had the wish to acquire, 
cost liim far less, than any other man. The readi- 
ness, with which he received knowledge, seemed at 
times almost like instantaneous inspiration. He did 
not often choose to engage in laborious inquiries ; but 
he had the necessary firmness and perseverance to at- 
tain, whatever was essential to his ambition or pub- 
lic duties. 

Towards the close of Mr. Adams's administration 
he was oflfered a foreign embassy, which he declined ; 
and upon the accession of Mr. Jefferson to the presi- 
dency he resigned his public employments, and re- 
turned to the practice of the law with unabated zeal. 
From this period he engaged less in political contro- 
versies ; and reserved himself principally for profes- 
sional or theological researches. He had always a«- 



10 

i'ustomed himself to an independence of thinking up- 
on ail subjects, l^g^^^? political and religious. Ue 
subscribed to no man's creed ; and dealt in the dog- 
mas of the school of no master ; but lie examined, 
Aveighed, and decided every thing for himself. He 
observed, or thought he observed, that parties were 
gradually changing their policy and principles ; and 
on this account he seems to have felt less desire to en- 
gage in controversies, where his judgment and politi- 
cal friendships might not always be reconcileable. 
On two memorable occasions, whicli are vet fresh in 
our recollections, he took an active political part. I 
refer to his opposition to the embargo and non-inter- 
course system, and his support of the late war. But ex- 
cept in these instances, he rarely, if ever, appeared 
after liis return to the bar, as the strenuous advocate or 
opposer of any of the great political measures, which 
agitated the nation. It was not that he looked on 
with indifference, or sought to evade responsibility by 
equivocation or reserve. On the contrary, he was al- 
ways frank, communicative and decided. But his 
judgment was so little in unison with the wishes of 
any party, that he expressed his opinions, rather as 
guides of his own conduct, than from a hope to influ- 
ence others. He was as incapable of deceiving oth- 
ers, as he was of deceiving himself; and would rath- 
er suiTender the popularity of a whole life, than sub- 
mit his own judgment to any sect in church or state. 

It is not unusual for men of eminence, after having 
withdrawn a few years from the bar, to find it diffi- 
cult, if not impracticable, to resume their former rank 
in business. Notliing of this sort occurred to check 
(he progress of Mr, Dexter. He was immediately 



41 

engaged in almost all important causes in our highest 
courts ; and popular favour seemed to have increas- 
ed rather than diminished during his temporary re- 
tirement. From the triumphs and victories of the 
State Bar, his reputation soon carried him to the 
Supreme Court of the United States, wliere it has 
been my pride and pleasure, for many years* to have 
seen him holding his career in the foremost rank of 
advocates. This would entitle him to no ordinary 
praise ; for that bar has been long distinguished by 
the presence of many of the most illustrious lawyers 
in the union. 

In no situation have the admirable talents of Mr. 
Dexter appeared with more unclouded lustre than in 
his attendance on the Supreme Court at Washington. 
For several years he passed the winters there, under 
engagements in many of the most important causes. 
Rarely did he speak without attracting an audience 
composed of the taste, the beauty, the wit and the 
learning, that adorned the city ; and never was he 
heard without instruction and delight. On some oc- 
casions involuntary tears from the whole audience 
have testified the touching powers of his eloquence 
and pathos. On others a profound and breathless si- 
lence expressed more forcibly, than any human lan- 
guage, the rivetted attention of an hundred minds. I 
well remember, with what appropriate felicity he 
undertook in one cause to analyze the sources of 
patriotism. I wish it were possible to preserve the 
whole in the language, in which it was delivered. No 
one, who heard hioi describe the influence of local 
scenery upon the human heart, but felt his soul dis- 
solve within him, I can recal but imperfectly a sin- 



1S5 

gle passage, and, stripped of its natural connexion, it 
affords but a glimmering of its original brightness. 
We love not our country, said the orator, from a blind 
and unmeaning attachment, simj)!^ because it is the 
place of our birth. It is the scene of our earliest joys 
and sorrows. Every spot has become consecrated 
by some youthful sport, some tender friendship, some 
endearing affection, some reverential feeling. It is 
associated with all our moral habits, our principles 
and our virtues. The very sod seems almost a part 
of ourselves, for there are entombed the bones of our 
ancestors. Even the dark valley of the shadow of 
death is not without its consolations, for we pass it in 
company with our friends. In a still more recent in- 
stance, and indeed in one of the last causes he ever 
argued, he took the occasion of an appropriate discus- 
sion, to expound his own views of the constitution, and, 
dropping the character of an advocate, to perform the 
paramount duty of a citizen. He seemed, as if giving 
his parting advice and benedictions to his country, 
and, as if he had worked up his mind to a mighty ef- 
fort to vindicate those solid maxims of government 
and policy, by which alone the union of the states 
might be upheld and perpetuated. It is deeply to be 
regretted, that his just and elevated views are now 
confined to the frail memories of those who heard him. 

In the spring of 18X5 Mr. Dexter was requested 
by President Madison to accept an extraordinary 
mission to the court of Spain ; but from a reluctance 
to go abroad he declined the appointment. 

During the last winter Mr. Dexter was for a few 
days aillictcd with the epidemic prevailing at Wash- 
ington ; and was once compelled from indisposition to 



13 

stop in the argument of a cause. He had however 
entirely recovered, and never seemed in better health. 
On his return from Washington he v^ent with his fam- 
ily to Athens, in the state of New York, to assist in 
the celebration of the nuptials of his son. He arrived 
there on Tuesday the 30th of April, somewhat un- 
well, but no serious alarm for his safety existed, until 
the day previous to his death. Finding his dissolu- 
tion approaching, he gave the proper directions re- 
specting his affairs, and prepared to meet his fate with 
the calmness of a christian philosopher. He could 
look back on a life devoted to virtuous pursuits with-, 
out reproach, and his regrets could only be for hi ^ 
family and his country. About midnight on Friday, 
the 3d of May, he lost his senses, and in three hours 
afterwards he expired in the arms of his family with- 
out a struggle or a groan. 

Such was the life and such the death of Mr. 
Dexter. I forbear to give a minute account of the lit- 
erary honours, w^hich he received, and of the public 
institutions, of which he was a member. I am aware 
how little I am qualified for the office of his biogra- 
pher ; but I have this consolation, that he needs no 
other panegyric, than truth. I will close these hasty 
sketches with a few remarks on his person, charac- 
ter, manners and acquirements. 

In his person Mr. Dexter was tall and well form- 
ed, of strong well defined features, and bold muscular 
proportions. His manners were at a first interview 
reserved and retiring ; and this was sometimes mista- 
ken by a careless observer for austerity or pride. 
But this impression vanished on a farther acquaint- 
ance : and it was goon perceived, that though he made 
3 



14 

no eftort to court popularity, he was Irauk, manly, and 
accessible ; and at the bar conciliatory and respectful. 
His countenance was uncommonly striking ; and yet 
perhaps scarcely gave at once the character of Lis 
mind. Unless awakened by strong interests his fea- 
tures relaxed into a repose, which betrayed little of 
his intellectual grandeur. In such situations his eyes 
had a tranquil mildness, which seemed better suited 
to an habitual indolence of temperament, than to fer- 
vid thoughts. Yet a curious observer might read in 
his face the traces of a contemplative mind, sometimes 
lost in reveries, and sometimes devoted to the most in- 
diuse abstractions of metaphysics. When roused in- 
Li) action, his features assumed a new aspect. A stea- 
dy stream of light emanated from his eyes, the muscles 
of his face swelled with emotion, and a slight flush 
chafed his pallid cheeks. His enunciation was re- 
markably slow, distinct, and musical ; though the 
intonations of his voice were sometimes too monoto- 
nous. His language was plain, but pure and well 
selected ; and, though his mind was stored with poet- 
ic images, he rarely indulged himself in ornaments 
of any kind. If a rhetorical illustration, or striking 
metaphor, sometimes adorned his speeches, they seem- 
ed the spontaneous burst of his genius, produced with- 
out effort, and dismissed without regret. They might 
indeed be compared to those spots of beautiful ver- 
dure, which are scattered here and there in Alpine 
regions amidst the dazzling whiteness of surrounding 
snows. In the exordiums of his speeches he wag 
rarely happy. It seemed tlie first exercise of a mind 
struggling to break its slumbers, or to control the tor- 
rent of its thoughts. As he advanced, he became col- 




15 

lected, forcible and argumentative ; and his perora- 
tions were uniformly grand and impressive. They 
were often felt^ when they could not be followed. 

Such was the general character of his delivery. 
But it would be a great mistake to suppose, because 
his principal favorite was ratiocination,, that his deliv- 
ery was cold, tame^ or uninteresting. I am persuaded^ 
that nature had given him uncommon strength of pas- 
sions. The natural characteristics of his mind were 
fervour and force; aad, left to the mere workings of his 
own genius, he would have been impetuous and vehe- 
ment. But he seemed early to have assumed the maste- 
ry of his mind ; to have checked its vivid movements 
hy habitual discipline ; and bound his passions in the 
adamantine chains of logic and reasoning. The dis^ 
missal of the graces of fancy and of picturesque de- 
scription, were with him a matter of choice, and not of 
necessity. He resigned them, as Hercules resigned 
pleasure, not because he was insensible of its charms^ 
but because he was more enamoured of wisdom. Yet, 
as if to show his native powers^ he has sometimes let 
loose the enthusiasm of his genius, and touched with 
a master's hand every chord of the passions, and al- 
ternately astonished, deliglited, and melted his hear- 
ers. Something of the same effect has been produc- 
ed, by, what may be fitly termed, the moral sublimity 
of his reasoning. He opened his arguments in a pro- 
gressive order, erecting each successive position upon 
some other, whose solid mass he had already estab- 
lished on an immoveable foundation, till at last the 
superstructure seemed, by its height and ponderous 
proportions, to bid defiance to the assaults of human 
ingenuity, I am aware that these expressions may 



i6 

be deemed the exa2;gerations of fancy, but I only de- 
scribe, what I have felt on my own mind ; and I gath- 
er from others, that I have not been singular in my 
feelings. 

It would be invidious to compare Mr. Dexter 
with other illustrious men of our country, either 
living or dead. In general acquirements he was un- 
questionably inferior to many : and even in profes- 
sional science he could scarcely be considered, as very 
profound, or very learned. He had a disinclination 
to the pages of black lettered law, which he some- 
times censured as the scholastic refinements of monk- 
ish ages ; and even for the common branches of techni- 
cal science, the doctrines of special pleading, and the 
niceties of feudal tenures, he professed to feel little 
of love or reverence. His delight was to expatiate 
in the elements of jurisprudence, and to analyze and 
combine the great principles of equity and reason, 
which distinguish the branches of maritime law. 
In commercial causes, therefore, he shone with pecu- 
liar advantage. His comprehensive mind was famil- 
iar with all the leading distinctions of this portion of 
law ; and lie marked out with wonderful sagacity and 
promptitude, the almost evanescent boundaries, which 
sometimes st^paratc its principles. Indeed it may be 
truly said of him, that he could walk a narrow isthmus 
between opposing doctrines, when no man dared to 
follow liim. The law of prize and of nations were 
also adapted to Ids faculties ; and no one who heard 
him upon these topics, but was compelled to confess, 
that if he was not always convincing, he was always 
ingenious ; and that when he attempted to shake a set- 
tled rule, though he might be wrong upon authority 



ir 

auil practice, he was rarely wrong upon the princi- 
ples of international justice. 

In short, there have been men more thoroughly 
imbued with all the fine tinctures of classic taste ; 
men of more playful and cultivated imaginations ; of 
more deep and accurate research, and of more vari- 
ous and finished learning. But if the capacity to ex- 
amine a question by the most comprehensive analysis ; 
to subject all its relations to the test of the most sub- 
tle logic ; and to exhibit them in perfect transparen- 
cy to the minds of others : — If the capacity to detect, 
with an unerring judgment, the weak points of an ar- 
gument, and to strip off every veil from sophistry op 
error : — If the capacity to seize, as it were by intui- 
tion, the learning and arguments of others, and inst^- 
taneously to fashion them to his own purposes : — If, 
I say, these constitute some of the highest preroga- 
tives of genius, it will be difficult to find many rivals, 
or superiors to Mr. Dexter. In the sifting and com- 
parison of evidence, and in moulding its heterogene- 
ous materials into one consistent mass, the bar and 
the bench have pronounced him almost inimitable. 

His eloquence was altogether of an original cast. 
It had not the magnificent colouring of Burke, or the 
impetuous flow of Chatham. It moved along in ma- 
jestic simplicity, like a mighty stream, quickening and 
fertilizing every thing in its course. He persuaded 
without seeming to use the arts of persuasion ; and 
convinced without condescending to solicit conviction. 
No man was ever more exempt from finesse or cun^ 
ning in addressing a jury. He disdained the little 
arts of sophistry or popular appeal. It was in hia 
judgment something more degrading than the sight of 



18 

Achilles playing with a lady's distaff. It was sur- 
renderins; the integrity, as well as honour of the har. 
His conduct afforded, in these particulars, an excel- 
lent example for young counsellors, which it would 
be well for them to imitate, even though they should 
follow in his path with unequal footsteps. 

His studies were not altogether of a professional 
nature. He devoted much time to the evidences and 
doctrines of Christianity ; and his faith in its truths 
was fixed after the most elaborate inquiries. That he 
was most catholic and liberal in his views, is known 
to us all ; but, except to his intimate friends, it is lit- 
tle known, how solicitous he was to sustain the credi- 
bility of the christian system ; and how ingenuous and 
able were his expositions of its doctrines. 

As a statesman, it is impossible to regard his en- 
lightened policy and principles without reverence. 
He had no foreign partialities, or prejudices to indulge, 
or gratify. All his affections centered in his coun- 
try ; all his wishes were for its glory, independence 
and prosperity. The steady friend of the constitu- 
tion of the United States, he was, in the purest and 
most appropriate sense of the terms, a patriot and a 
republican. He considered the union of the States 
as the pole-star of our liberties ; and whatever might 
be his opinion of any measures, he never breathed a 
doubt to shake public or private confidence in the ex- 
cellence of the constitution itself. When others sunk 
into despondency at the gloomy aspect of public af- 
fairs, and seemed almost ready to resign their belief 
in republican institutions, he remained their infiexible 
advocate. He was neither dismayed by the intemper- 
ence of parties, nor by the indiscretion of rulers. He 



19 

believed in the redeeming power of a free eonstitui 
tion ; and that, though the people might sometimes be 
deceived, to their intelligence and virtue we might 
safely trust to equalize all the eccentricities and pur- 
turbations of the political system. He had the singu- 
lar fortune, at different times, to be the favorite of dif- 
ferent parties, occupying in each the same elevation. 
It is not my purpose to examine, or vindicate his con- 
duct in either of these situations. I feel indeed, that 
I am already treading upon ashes thinly strewed over 
living embers. The present is not the time for an im- 
partial estimate of his political conduct. That duty 
belongs, and may be safely left, to posterity. With- 
out pretending to anticipate their award, we may with 
some confidence affirm, that the fame of Mr. Dexter 
has little to fear from the most rigid scrutiny. While 
he lived, he might be claimed with pride by any par- 
ty ; but now that he is dead^ he belongs to his coun- 
try. 

To conclude, — Mr. Dexter was a man of such rare 
endowments, that in whatever age or nation he had 
lived, he would have been in the first rank of profes- 
sional eminence. It is unfortunate, that he has left no 
written record of himself. The only monument of his 
fame rests in the frail recollections of memory, and 
can reach future ages (mly through the indistinctness 
of tradition or history. His glowing thoughts, his 
brilliant periods, and his profound reasonings, have 
perished forever. They have passed away like the 
dream of a shadow. He is gathered to his fathers ; 
and his lips are closed in the silence of death. 

I rejoice to have lived in the same age with him : 
and to have been permitted to hear his eloquencpy. and 



so 

to be instructed by bis wisdom. I mourn^ that tny 
country has lost a patriot, without fear or reproach. 
The glory that has settled on his tomb will not be 
easily obscured ; and if it shall grow dim in the 
lapse of time, I trust that some faithful historian will 
preserve the character of his mind i*} pages, that can 
perish only with the language, in which it is written. 



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